By Charles Brun: Tony Bellew says he feels that Anthony Joshua must use his size to “hold and maul” unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to get the victory on Saturday night.
The 6’6″ Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) is expected to come into the fight in the low 240s, whereas Usyk could be in the upper 220s or low 230s.
As such, if Joshua is able to grapple with Usyk, he’ll be able to use his weight advantage to try and tire him out.
To be sure, it’s an ugly way of winning a fight, but when you’re desperate, as Joshua is to try and save his career, he’s going to use this method to keep from getting beaten again.
“Is [Robert] Garcia the man to get Joshua to take more risks?” said Tony Bellew to DAZN News. “We’ll soon find out, but what I expect is a more aggressive ‘AJ’ and someone who’s going to make a fast start.
“Joshua has to make his size tell in this fight, and that’s just not using his reach and power; it’s getting in close and letting Usyk feel him.
“Hold and maul so Usyk can’t get any rhythm like the first fight. It’s a tall order, but I’m going to back Joshua to get the job done by knockout if he applies himself correctly,” said Bellew.
“I think Usyk is a subtle guy, so I don’t think he’ll get trapped in the trappers of success,” said Joshua to Fight Hub TV. “Of course, it was to hurt him. I just had certain goals I wanted to achieve on the night,” said Joshua about his first fight against Usyk last September.
“I’m a quite stubborn person. I have a different goal now. If I stick to my goal, I think I’ll do it because I’m stubborn. I want to reinvent myself and go again.
“I can’t explain why he’s done it,” said Joshua about Usyk bulking up. “But my reasoning is if I was to come in heavy, there are a few reasons. Maybe you want to punch harder.
“Maybe you want to absorb punches better, or maybe his thought process was ‘I can still be effective at a higher weight,'” said Joshua.
